A Salem daycare operator’s license was suspended last week after the state opened a child welfare investigation. Officials with the Office of Child Care told the family that operates the facility that they are investigating a claim that daycare children were unsupervised.

The Alphabet Academy Learning Center’s license was suspended Friday by the Office of Child Care, which licenses and regulates child care facilities in Oregon. Moriah Jaeger, 24, operates the facility out of her mother’s Ellis Street NE home.

Kathleen Hynes, legal and compliance manager for the office of child care, said Tuesday the agency has “concerns about supervision at the facility,” but declined to detail them citing confidentiality rules.

Charity Araujo, 44, Jaeger’s mother, said state officials visited the facility on Friday and said they were there to investigate a complaint by an unidentified person who reported marijuana use among people associated with the daycare.

All five of the employees who work at the center live at the home; four of them hold medical marijuana cards, Araujo said.

Araujo, a medical marijuana patient, operated the daycare until earlier this year when she voluntarily surrendered her license. The facility is now licensed under her daughter’s name.

She said the facility is also the subject of a child welfare investigation by the Oregon Department of Human Services, which investigates claims of abuse and neglect.

The Office of Child Care automatically suspends daycare licenses when child welfare investigations are opened. A spokesman for the Department of Human Services declined to discuss the investigation. Spokesman Gene Evans said the state does not investigate medical marijuana use and treats the drug as any other medication.

Speaking generally, he said medical marijuana could be part of an investigation if it was a factor in a failure to supervise children.

“It’s very much like any other drug or substance,” said Evans. “DHS gets involved when it potentially impacts the safety of children and adults’ ability to make good decisions and protect the children in their care.”

It is the second time the facility’s license has been suspended this year, according to state records. Records show the first suspension extended from Jan. 24 until March 4. The state on Monday would not disclose the reason for that suspension, saying only that such action is taken when children are in “imminent danger.” Hynes said superivision was a concern in that case as well.

Araujo said a cable TV worker detected marijuana smoke in an office separate from the house and reported the incident to authorities, triggering the inquiry.

Araujo said she previously disclosed to the state her status as an Oregon medical marijuana patient. She provided The Oregonian a letter from the child care agency spelling out the conditions under which medical marijuana patients associated with the daycare may consume the drug.

The document, dated May 15 and signed by state compliance specialist Kristy Mitchell, says cardholders must comply with the law, refrain from smoking marijuana in the presence of daycare children; protect children from second-hand marijuana smoke; keep marijuana plants, “derivatives” and paraphernalia locked; and ensure that a second adult is the primary caregiver if an employee is under the influence of marijuana.

The letter states that the conditions will be kept secret and would be released only if the Office of Child Care is directed to do so by the Oregon Attorney General’s Office. Araujo said she has followed the state’s terms.

“I adhere to that very, very carefully,” said Araujo, who said she smokes in an enclosed tent in her yard, typically late in the day and not when children are in the yard. She uses marijuana to treat severe pain in her legs.

“There was no way the kids would ever see us,” she said.

She said other employees aren’t allowed to use marijuana while working, but they can consume on site once their shift ends and they are no longer responsible for children.

“We don’t have anyone medicated (who) is responsible for the children,” she said.

She blamed the facility’s current troubles on a neighbor who is unhappy about living near a daycare.

According to Office of Child Care records, which were released on Monday to The Oregonian, an unidentified person contacted the state on June 6 to report seeing a party at the home from 7 p.m. until midnight in which about a half-dozen people were seen drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana.

“The caller states they have observed all the adults smoking marijuana at the same time on a daily basis,” the report notes. Araujo said no daycare children were present at the party, which took place on Memorial Day weekend.

A licensing specialist, Heidi Ballweber, inspected the facility in response to the allegation and reviewed the daycare’s attendance records, which showed no daycare children were in the home that weekend.

Ballweber concluded she was unable to substantiate the caller’s complaint, according to a letter sent to the facility.

In January, regulators found multiple violations, including a stairway that wasn’t blocked with a barrier, inadequate staffing and supervision. Two other inspections found two individuals living at the home without having undergone state-mandated background checks.

The facility’s license also was suspended from July 18, 2012, through Aug. 9, 2012; state officials said declined to say why, saying only that suspensions are triggered when children are in “imminent danger.”

Hynes said the state may issue licenses to daycare operators with medical marijuana cards. She said the office places “special conditions” on the license, which include barring people under the influence of medical marijuana from serving as the “primary caregiver” for children in a daycare. She said such situations are uncommon.